Trouble with Alpine Baguettes
Bear with me here, I am trying to recall details of the recipe by memory, as I don't have the book here...
I recently made this bread (Leader's Alpine Baguettes from Local Breads) and think the hydration is off.
The bread starts with about 3.5 oz of a rye starter and a 5 oz soaker of mixed seeds/nuts (oats, pumpkin, sunflower, flax, millet, sesame, etc). 17.6 oz bread flour, 18.5 oz water, divided...some of it into the soaker the night before and the rest into the dough the next day.
As you can see, water is at 105%...the result was a "batter" into which I had to knead additional flour in order to make anything approaching a dough. End result was fine, but frustrating as it took longer to get to the final product...and nothing else got done that day!
So my questions are:
(1) has anyone else had trouble with this recipe?
(2) what would be a good hydration level to aim towards? I was thinking in the 70-80% range, but want your input. I'm guessing that the hydration might need to be a little on the high side given the soaker, but 105% is clearly a typo.
Help!
Windi
Philly PA